Wallace’s 3-pointers lead UNLV over No. 15 New Mexico, 74-62

UNLV wins at No. 15 New Mexico, 74-62

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Kendall Wallace made six of his seven 3-pointers in the second half and finished with a career-high 21 points, leading UNLV to a 74-62 win over No. 15 New Mexico on Saturday to end the Lobos’ 19-game homecourt winning streak.

Wallace shot 7 of 10 from 3-point range and Tra’Von Willis scored 20, helping the Rebels (13-3, 1-1 Mountain West) salvage an important split on a demanding conference-opening road trip. Three nights earlier, UNLV lost at No. 25 BYU after faltering down the stretch.

Dairese Gary scored 17 points, Roman Martinez had 15 and Darington Hobson added 14 for New Mexico (14-3, 0-2), which won its first 12 games to reclaim a spot in the national rankings for the first time in 11 seasons but now has lost three of its last five.

The Lobos lost at San Diego State on Tuesday, and Wallace ended any hope for a bounce-back victory.

UNLV led 36-30 at the break but New Mexico chipped at the margin, got the fans involved and seemed poised to run the Rebels out of The Pit. The Lobos led 46-45 with 10:31 remaining when Will Brown scored after a nice feed from Darington Hobson to cap a 6-0 burst.

But Walllace steadied everything for UNLV with two 3-pointers and the Rebels scored the next 11 points for a 56-46 lead with 6:34 to go.

The Lobos weren’t finished, but neither was Wallace.

He kept shooting, hitting consecutive 3-pointers to put the Rebels up 64-51 with 4:57 remaining. When the Lobos trimmed the deficit to 68-62 with 1:44 on a 3-point play by Gary, Walllace answered with another 3-pointer that silenced the crowd.